


Bound Together

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Reaper76 [83]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Bondage, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Memories, Painplay, Past Relationship(s), Past and Present, Sensory Deprivation, Shibari, Suspension, Trust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:29:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23890864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Reaper hummed under his breath for a moment, studying the man beneath him. So different from the one in his memory. Yet still here, waiting on his word and quivering at his touch. It was a heady realisation to know that even now he had this power over Jack, and he wondered whether it was still trust that kept the other man on his knees in front of his greatest enemy.Jack had always trusted Gabriel, letting him see his weakness, the parts of himself he couldn't show the world. Zurich had taken everything from them, left them on opposite sides, but that trust lingered, an ember among the ashes.
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Reaper76 [83]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1188655
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Bound Together

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that if you want to talk to me about my fics and writing, or anime/shows/games in general then you can now find me on discord [The Unholy Trinity](https://discord.gg/jdpcfy6XTB).

The Soldier was on his knees, blood trickling down his chin and listing to the side from the blow that had taken him down. He could have got up. The punch had hurt, but it wasn’t enough to take someone like him down, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. No, he didn’t want to move. He hurt, a burn that stretched through his body, the fight with Reaper leaving him bloodied and battered in a way that had his heart racing, longing for more. And it was that longing that kept him on his knees, head bowed, and eyes lowered. _Please,_ he thought, listening as Reaper prowled around him, circling him like a wolf eyeing a wounded deer.

It shouldn’t have excited him, but it did, a delicious shiver that ran down his spine, aroused and desperate, and he wanted to look up, to beg for more – pain or pleasure, it didn’t really matter at this point, he just wanted more. He bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, hips jerking at the fresh spike of pain, but it stopped him from looking up, knowing that if he did then the game would end there and then.

There was a chuckle from above him, the motion not going unnoticed and he flinched. _Please._ He lapped at his lip, tasting his blood, waiting with bated breath as Reaper circled him once more before coming to a halt in front of him, and he fought the urge to look up. Gaze locked on the other man’s boots, feeling the weight of Reaper’s gaze.

The judgement.

Hunger.

“Doesn’t this bring back memories,” Reaper murmured, easing a metal-tipped finger under the Soldier’s chin and forcing him to look up, using enough force for the tip to break the skin. The crimson eyes glittering with amusement as the other man moaned softly.

_Jack was kneeling in front of him, knees nestled on the cushion that Gabriel had given him. Perfectly still and gloriously naked, eyes to the ground in submission as he waited. He was a work of art like this, but then he always was. Sculpted muscles, trembling ever so slightly as he tried to hold himself in place, already teetering on the precipice, after Gabriel had spent the entirety of the U.N. dinner teasing him. Fleeting touches that had been just the wrong side of polite whispered words, and the possibility of getting caught, leaving Jack flushed and hungry for more._

_“Now, what should I do with you?” Gabriel pondered as he circled Jack, trailing his fingers over Jack’s body, chasing the delicate pink dusting his skin. Tracing patterns over the broad shoulders, across his neck – noticing the way Jack’s hips twitched at the motion, reaching up to tug on the short blond hair, the sudden, brief pain bringing a moan to Jack’s lips, and Gabriel drank it for a moment before moving around to the front. Leaning in, he let his hand trail lower, brushing across Jack’s chest and scratching lightly over his nipples, enough to make him jolt, but just short of the pain that would have him coming undone._

_“Gabe…”_

Reaper hummed under his breath for a moment, studying the man beneath him. So different from the one in his memory. Yet still here, waiting on his word and quivering at his touch. It was a heady realisation to know that even now he had this power over Jack, and he wondered whether it was still trust that kept the other man on his knees in front of his greatest enemy. He didn’t ask, not sure that either of them would like the answer. Instead, he released Jack’s chin, and circled him again, hearing the sigh of loss as the pain vanished, and smirking behind his mask. _Still, the same, aren’t you, Jack?_

“Now, what should I do with you?” He asked, echoing the words of another lifetime. _I could kill him,_ he realised, looking at the bowed head and exposed neck, unable to resist reaching out and running a clawed finger across the sliver of exposed skin between the collar of that ridiculous coat at the mask and visor, savouring the sharp intake of breath. _It would be so easy,_ he pressed a little harder, drawing a line of blood across pale skin and Jack keened, arching into the touch. _Too easy,_ he amended, pulling back several steps and watching Jack for a moment, seeing the faint tremor that the other man couldn’t entirely hide.

Something was missing.

He tilted his head, a smirk growing as the Soldier shifted slightly under his gaze, as desperate and impatient as he’d always been. _Ah…_ He slid through the shadows, not wanting Jack to hear his approach, hardening the nanites around his fingers until the claws were razor sharp. The first swipe sliced through the ridiculous coat that the Soldier insisted on wearing, the weathered leather no match for his claws, and he deliberately went deep enough to rake against trembling flesh. Jack keened as blood welled, and the Reaper drank in the sounds, as he slowly, methodically sliced away the Soldier’s clothing. Sometimes he would just tickle the skin beneath, the promise of pain as intoxicating for Jack, as the actual sting of it was, other times he left marks, as he stripped the ruined, bloody clothing away and disposed of it carelessly nearby.

“Much better,” he purred, pausing for a moment to appreciate his masterpiece. Jack had aged well, life on the run keeping him in shape, although the skin was paler than it had been, and crisscrossed with marks old and new, and Reaper’s eyes narrowed for a moment. Possessive anger rising at the scars that he hadn’t left, pain he knew nothing about, before dismissing it. It was his marks, the scratches and cuts littering the kneeling man that mattered, it was the blood that he had spilt that had Jack hard and wanting, breath coming in shaky pants. “Almost perfect,” he said, stepping closer, letting the nanites flow away from his hands so that it was his own fingers that reached out and almost tenderly removed the mask and visor. A tendril rising to take them, depositing them beside the pile of clothing with a little more care, as he kept his eyes on the newly revealed features.

Here, the changes were more profound, and the same possessive anger flooded him for a moment, as he reached out and trailed a finger over the deep scars that lay across Jack’s face. Still, the eyes that met his for a moment, were still the same striking blue, undimmed by age, and for a moment, he couldn’t look away.

_“Beautiful,” Gabriel whispered, nipping the ear he was pressed against before straightening. “You are almost angelic like this.” He reached out, and tilted Jack’s face up, smiling at the wide-blue eyes, the quiet plea for more before looking down at where Jack is already hard. “Almost,” he repeated with a chuckle. “But, what to do with you, since you have to be out in public tomorrow.” Jack quivered at that, and Gabriel lifted an eyebrow. “Or maybe you want them to see what we’ve been up to?”_

_“N-no…” Jack whispered, but his blush belied his words, as did the longing in his eyes. The desire to be able to do what he wanted without any fear of what the world might think. Gabriel hummed, wishing that he could give him that, but they both knew that there was too much at stake at the moment to give in to that temptation. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t spoil Jack tonight._

_“That’s okay,” Gabriel told him, voice soft, as he let his hand trail down Jack’s chest again, scratching this time, earning himself another tantalising moan that he stole by kissing him softly. “I like a challenge, and…” He paused, thinking about what he had managed to bring with him – having made sure to repack after Jack had taken a peek in his luggage – lips curling up into a smirk. “I think I know just what to do with you.”_

_“What?” Jack asked, tilting his head, utterly trusting but curious._

_“Something new,” Gabriel replied, studying him, before running his hands along Jack’s arms. Pausing a short distance below the elbow as though working through a puzzle, as he glanced across at the uniform that had been dumped with little ceremony as soon as they’d reached the room, fingers lingering as though marking the spot as he met Jack’s gaze. “Something that I think you will enjoy, something that will hurt…” He knew that he had Jack with that word, the blue eyes darkening until they looked like the night sky, and he grinned, stroking Jack’s arms. “I thought so.”_

“Should I hurt you, Jack?” Reaper asked softly, closing his eyes for a moment to free himself from Jack’s gaze and the memories that were a little too close to the surface. He heard the intake of breath and opened his eyes to see that Jack’s eyes had darkened just as they had back then. “Should I break you?” He reached out and caressed Jack’s cheek for a moment, a fleeting tenderness that made the threat in his words stand out all the more vividly, and he felt the tiny nod, the flutter of warm breath as Jack exhaled shakily.

“Please…”

It wasn’t as though he had been expecting a negative answer. Even after all this time he knew Jack, knew what he needed, knew how to break him and put him together again, but the plea and the permission it entailed took his breath away. _So naïve,_ he thought. _Doesn’t he realise I could destroy him? That I could kill before he realised what I was doing?_ Jack was still watching him, and Reaper startled a little when he realised that the other man knew full well what he could do, that he had seen him at his best and his worst in this form and was still turning himself over into his hands.

Trusting in him as implicitly as he had back then.

_“Do you trust me?” Gabriel asked, releasing Jack’s arms and looking at him._

_“Of course,” Jack replied at once._

_“This is going to hurt,” he warned him, and Jack frowned. “And it will push you, scare you even.” His partner scoffed at that, and Gabriel understood, after everything they had seen and done, it was hard to imagine anything like that. But he also knew Jack, knew that his plan would push his boundaries. “But you will be safe, and I won’t let any harm come to you.”_

_“What are you planning?” Jack asked, a little more seriously this time. ‘Harm’ wasn’t a new concept between them because of Jack’s need for pain, to be able to feel the burn of it before his SEP enhanced body would steal it away from him, and they had long since found a pattern that suited both of them, so for Gabriel to be warning him had him curious, and a little worried. “Gabriel?”_

_“I want you to let me take it all away,” Gabriel murmured, reaching up to brush his fingers under Jack’s eyes before moving to tug at his ear. “Your eyes and ears, the world. And then I want to tie you up, to have you completely bound and at my mercy, unable to do anything but what I want.”_

_Jack shivered at that, finally understanding as he looked away, considering his partner’s words. To be utterly dependent on Gabriel, to be trapped and helpless, it was something that went against every instinct he had, and all the training that had been drilled into them. It was terrifying in a way that he hadn’t thought possible, and he shivered, even as his heart started to race. Slowly lifting his head to meet Gabriel’s gaze, licking his lips before he smiled, and leaned up to kiss him._

_“I like the sound of that.”_

He wasn’t sure whether it was that past trust and the nostalgia it brought, or the fact that Jack was there, kneeling in front of him, placing his life in the hands of the man that had nearly killed him multiple times, but his expression softened, and he reached for his mask. Brushing against the ivory material, he let it melt away, allowing Jack to see the ruined features beneath, the eyes that burned with inhuman fire. He’d expected to see doubt, or maybe even fear as he revealed himself entirely for the first time, but Jack was calm, watching him with the same unwavering trust albeit tinged with guilt and grief.

“You are a fool,” he said finally, reaching for Jack’s face again, drawing him into a kiss. Wishing that he could hate how easily they fitted together, the feeling of coming home as Jack melted into it. _But, which of us is the biggest fool?_ He wondered. “Do you trust me?” He asked, already knowing the answer but overcome by a need to hear it spoken aloud.

“Always.”

There was no hesitation, no flinching as Gabriel tested him, nanites gathering at his fingertips again, littering Jack’s cheeks with tiny, painful cuts, just a strangled gasp as Jack leaned in, chasing the sensation. Tongue flicking out to lap at a droplet of blood that had trickled onto his lip, holding Gabriel’s gaze as he lapped it up. _A fool, but still my fool,_ Gabriel thought, leaning in to kiss him, tasting the blood on his tongue and adding to it as he bit down, finding the perfect spot and devouring the delighted moan it earned him.

_Gabriel nibbled Jack’s lips, deepening the kiss, lulling his partner before biting down. Hard enough to draw blood, and Jack moaned into the kiss, pressing into him with a desperation that had him chuckling. The wound would be gone before they were done, an unfortunate side-effect of SEP, but the view that greeted him as he pulled back was fantastic as Jack was flushed and bright-eyed, lapping at his lip, and looking up at him with eyes that begged not just for more, but for everything that Gabriel could give him. The only person that Jack could and would trust this part of himself with._

_“Stay there,” he ordered, and Jack nodded, lowering his gaze once more._

_Briefly, he reached out to comb his fingers through the blond hair, ruffling it as he chased away the last vestiges of the pristine Strike Commander. I wonder what they would think if they could see him like this, he pondered as he stepped away, reluctantly letting his hand fall away before he turned and headed towards the bed and the bag that he had tucked underneath earlier that evening. He could feel Jack’s eyes on him, but when he glanced back Jack was unmoved, head bowed, and he shook his head amused as he hauled the bag out from underneath, dumping it on the end of the bed and opening it, his heart beating a little faster as his fingers brushed the rope within. A smile tugging at his lips as he imagined how Jack was going to look._

_Beautiful…_

_Setting that aside for a moment, he took out the other items from the bag and settled them on the bed, carefully hidden by the bag as he knew that would drive Jack wild with curiosity. His smile became a smirk as sure enough, he heard the frustrated sigh from behind him, before he retrieved the rope and moved back towards Jack with a teasing. “You can look now.” Blue eyes immediately met his, before dropping to the rope he was twisting in his hands, checking yet again to make sure that it was in perfect condition although it had never been used, and as he got closer, he made a show of testing the strength of the pale, blue cording. Truthfully, he doubted it would be anywhere near enough to hold someone like them back, but he was trusting that Jack wouldn’t want to escape, or that he would tell him if he needed out._

_“You planned this,” Jack muttered, only faintly accusing._

_“Of course,” Gabriel replied, unrepentant. As soon as he had heard they were going away he had let his imagination out to play, because as much as they could do at home, they could never forget that they were on the base and surrounded by the people they worked with. That was reduced here, and he would be lying if he said that there wasn’t a rush that came from being somewhere where they might be overheard, somewhere new that didn’t belong to them, that they could use to their heart's content. “It’s been too long since we played, and you’ve been stressed lately, and this is the perfect opportunity to work that out of you.” He punctuated the last bit by flexing the rope, and Jack swallowed, eyes wide and eager. “Now, stand up for me.”_

Gabriel didn’t ask this time, as he pulled the Soldier to his feet, but he did steady him as heard the other man’s knees crack at the movement. Holding on for a moment longer than necessary, unable to stop himself from marvelling that this was happening, that Jack could still lean into his touch without hesitation. Maybe one day he would be able to understand what was going on in the other man’s mind but considering he had spent their married life trying and failed, he wasn’t hoping for much. Feeling his thoughts darkening as they always did when he drifted to the past, and what might have been, he stepped back and looked around.

He hadn’t been prepared for this – for Jack – but that wasn’t going to stop him, and an almost wicked grin crept across his face as he glanced up at the beam’s overhead. A perfect height. “Do you remember how beautiful you looked Jack, all tied up for me, hard and wanting and unable to do anything but let me take care of you?” He asked, looking at Jack, seeing the blue eyes widen as they had back then, pale cheeks flushed pink as Jack nodded and he grinned. “I don’t have any ropes this time,” he continued. Circling Jack again, unable to resist reaching out and running fingers over Jack’s ass, hearing the intake of breath as the other man waiting for pain, probably hoping for it if the sigh was anything to go by when he let his hands fall. “But I do have something else.” He reached out, letting his hands drift across the broad shoulders and then down one muscled arm, lingering for a moment over a scar that he remembered, tracing it for a moment before remembering himself. “Put your arms behind your back…”

_“Put your arms behind your back, forearm to forearm and hugging your elbows,” Gabriel ordered softly, almost laughing at the speed with which Jack moved into position. Savouring the ease with which his partner obeyed him, before stepping forward to adjust Jack’s position a little. He’d done his research for tonight, and just because they could handle pain better than most and heal quicker, didn’t mean that he wanted to hurt Jack by accident. On purpose was a whole different matter, he thought with a private smile, as he circled around to stand behind Jack. “Now take a deep breath for me,” he continued, realising that Jack had tensed a little. An instinctive reaction to having someone behind him, even if he knew that it was Gabriel and trusted him. “Loosen your shoulders,” he coached, running his fingers over warm skin, and rubbing relaxing circles into the broad shoulders. “I need you to stay relaxed and calm while I do this; otherwise the rope will end up too loose” he explained, continuing the massage as he felt Jack breathing deeply and slowly, the tension slowly bleeding out of him._

_“We don’t want that…” Jack mumbled, sounding almost dreamy already, and Gabriel smiled. That was the voice he wanted._

_“No, we don’t,” he agreed softly, pressing a kiss to Jack’s shoulder. “Here we go.” A quiet hum was the only acknowledgement he got, but that was okay._

_Slowly, carefully he went to work. Aware that Jack had meetings tomorrow, he didn’t go any lower than the mid-arm, although he longed to bind his wrists too. Another time, he promised himself, as he worked methodically. Pausing when Jack groaned softly. “Too tight?”_

_“N-no,” Jack blinked, as though coming back from a distance. “It feels good.”_

_“Good,” Gabriel massaged his arm, soothing and praising at once. “If you feel any tingling or numbness though, let me know right away. I don’t care what ‘our’ bodies can take, I need you to let me know.” They could endure too much, to the point where there were times that they both went too far because they forgot about limits, that just because they could push through something, it didn’t mean the damage wasn’t there. “Jack?” He asked, refusing to continue until blue eyes met his and Jack nodded obediently._

_“I will tell you.”_

_Gabriel rewarded him with a kiss to the back of his neck, teeth scraping ever so lightly against his skin so that he could feel Jack shiver and watch his muscles tense against the ropes. He then tested him with a slightly harder than necessary tug on the ropes that were already in place, earning a heated moan before Jack cottoned on to what he was doing. “That was a little tight,” he admitted reluctantly, clearly not opposed to that fact._

_“Just testing,” Gabriel murmured, trailing kisses across Jack’s shoulders, before moving to finish binding the rest of his arms, letting Jack melt back into his own peaceful headspace as he worked._

He might not have been prepared for this, but he wanted it, and with the way, his nanites trembled. Eager to respond to his commands in a way he had never felt before, smoke rising and coiling around him and into his waiting hands, where they hardened into a glistening, ebony ‘rope’ that he ran through his fingers. It hummed with energy, with life, part of him and yet separate, and his breath caught for a moment as he realised that he could feel his fingers running over the rope. Shaking his head before he could become lost in the sensation, he lifted his gaze to Jack. The Solider wasn’t looking at him, gaze lowered slightly, but there was a flush creeping down his chest that betrayed him, and Gabriel shook his head with a chuckle.

_Always so eager._

“Stay still for me,” he whispered, even though he knew he didn’t need to ask as he slipped behind the Soldier and went to work. For a moment, he was distracted by the scars that littered the other man’s back, partially concealed beneath the marks he had left, but still visible. Some he knew, his fingers brushing over a long curving scar where an assassination attempt had very nearly proved successful, and another where Jack had forgotten himself and stepped between Gabriel and a shooter. There were others, long healed, and his eyes narrowed. _Zurich._ Once it would have satisfied him to know that Jack hadn’t got out of that unscathed, but now it weighed uncomfortably on him, and he dragged his gaze away, only for it to land on a much fresher scar, still reddened, the skin pulled tight. A scar he had left, and he hesitated before brushing it with his fingers. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not like you,” Jack replied, tilting his head to peer over his shoulder at Gabriel. “Besides this,” he jerked his chin downwards as though to indicate himself, still holding the position Gabriel had ordered. “Should be answer enough?” There was a hint of uncertainty at the end, not quite a wavering of trust, but enough to make Gabriel jolt forward pressing against Jack for a moment, hand pressed to the scar where he had shot Jack in apology, as he kissed the back of his neck.

“It is…”

Jack sighed, shivering at the kiss, smiling faintly as he turned his head back to the front. Waiting. Trusting, and Gabriel gathered himself, taking a deep breath before stepping back. “Try to stay relaxed,” he murmured, wondering if either of them would be able to achieve the state they’d had back then. Pretty words were one thing, but despite the acceptance and trust that had been shown so far, that didn’t change the past or everything that had happened between them.

“I remember that much,” Jack informed him tartly, before taking a deep breath and letting his shoulders fall, as the tension bled out of him, and for a moment Gabriel couldn’t move. Eventually, though he stepped forward, and went to work, shivering as he felt the nanites wrapping around Jack’s arms, wondering if this man would ever cease to surprise him.

_Gabriel circled back around to Jack’s front, waiting for hazy blue eyes to meet his. “I’m going to do across your chest now, remember to stay relaxed.” Jack blinked and nodded, breathing slowly and steadily, and Gabriel stole a kiss before continuing. Wrapping the rope around his partner, coil after coil, each positioned with careful precision, and he hadn’t realised that he was frowning in concentration until Jack leaned forward just enough to press a kiss to where his brow had furrowed. Something he had always done whenever he’d found Gabriel stressing over work, or training, or trying to keep Jack safe against the numerous threats against him, and as always Gabriel melted at the silly gesture, smiling as caught the next kiss on his lips. “I’m all right, just trying to do this properly,” he murmured._

_“It feels perfect,” Jack breathed, smiling and letting him go back to work, just breathing as the rope crisscrossed his skin, tight enough for him to feel restrained but not enough to hurt. Gabriel tried not to frown as he tied the rope at times, forming delicate knots that pressed against Jack’s skin like little blue blossoms, before wrapping more coils after him._

_He worked it around Jack above and below his chest, winding it up around his shoulders, careful to avoid the neck. However, he paused there, kissing flushed skin and leaving a mark just low enough to be hidden by Jack’s uniform as long as he didn’t forget himself and tug the collar down. Pausing for a moment, he ran his fingers back over what he’d already done, testing the tightness of the ropes, and searching Jack’s expression for any sign of discomfort, but Jack was quiet and pliant, a blissful expression on his face. He smiled at the sight, so different from the tense expression Jack had worn all day, the smile that had rarely reached his eyes apart from their eyes had met across the conference room. This was how Jack should look, or rather… he had reached the end of the first coil of rope, and tying it carefully in place, he tugged it, watching as Jack’s arms were pulled closer as all the coils tightened, and Jack’s mouth fell open in a moan… that’s how he should look._

_“Are you okay?” He murmured, even as he reached for the next coil._

_“Y-yeah,” Jack gasped, focusing just enough to look at him with pleading eyes. “More…”_

It had been a long time since Gabriel had been gentle with anyone or anything, it had been a weakness he couldn’t afford as Reaper. He had cared once and lost everything, and he told himself that would never happen again. Yet, here he was, claws banished entirely as he wove the nanite rope around the Soldier. Unable to resist letting his fingers trail over pale skin, and not just to check the ropes weren’t too tight. It unsettled him, left him quiet as he worked. Jack was silent also, breathing steadily and utterly relaxed. As though nothing had changed. As though at some point before finding each other in the fight and now they had stepped back in time, the years melting away until they were back in that hotel room where they had first done this. Only their bodies told the truth of the this strange, distorted future they found themselves in, Gabriel’s nanites hardening into a new rope as soon as he started to run out, filling him with the sensation of being wrapped around Jack. As though he was physically coiled around the other man, sliding across his skin, feeling the warmth and minute shivers as the ropes tightened. Jack’s body, worn and scarred, a lifetime written across his body. As Gabriel worked, he took the time to memorise each mark that he didn’t know, either with curious fingers, the nanite rope and ever now and then a brush of his lips against the scar in question, making Jack shiver each time.

Blue had suited Jack back then, but he looked stunning now, all pale skin and silvery hair framed by Gabriel’s darkness, and he paused for a moment to admire his handiwork. The dark rope glistened, framing muscles and Jack’s chest, and as Gabriel watched, he felt the nanite stir and vibrate. It was an overwhelming sensation when they did it under his own skin, but now, pressed against Jack and feeling rather than hearing the moan it drew from the other man, it was too much. A groan and a curse passing his lips, uncomfortable now in his clothing, he might have given in to temptation there and then, but blue eyes were watching him, knowing and trusting. Pleading for more, and as hard as it was to breathe as the nanites vibrated again, heat pooling and chasing his usual chill away, he knew that more was worth waiting for.

_Still, two could play at that game._

Taking a steadying breath, he moved forward again, and perhaps sensing that he meant business the nanites settled, smoke hardening and forming fresh coils of rope in his waiting hands. He worked it for a moment, creating the knot from memory and never taking his eyes off Jack. Jack was watching now, trembling with anticipation as Gabriel moved lower, slipping the rope between his legs, taking the time to mark the inside of Jack’s thigh with a sharp nip, the pain making Jack jolt and distracting him as he threaded the rope through to the front. “Do you remember this?” He couldn’t resist asking, as he pulled the rope up, watching Jack’s expression as the rope spread his ass cheeks, before the slightly larger knot he’d formed seconds before lodged into place right against his asshole. Jack gasped at the sensation, but there was a hint of something softer as he replied.

“I remember everything…”

“But not this,” Gabriel said, deciding that he didn’t want to think about how those words made him feel. Instead, he let the nanites play, this time welcoming the vibration, as he set them to play in that knot. Jack tensed at the sensation, mouth hanging open as he moaned, and then pressed back into the sensation, precum beading as his cock twitched. _Always a surprise,_ Gabriel reminded himself as his arousal flared again, hoping that Jack couldn’t feel the slight tremor in his hands as he went back to working the rope around Jack.

_The flush had spread lower, a beautiful contrast against the pale blue rope and Gabriel had to pause to admire the sight, unable to resist tugging on the rope between Jack’s leg, moving the knot against his hole. “You’re beautiful like this,” he murmured, not even sure that Jack had registered the words, as the blue eyes were at half-mast, the dreamy expression remaining even as Jack moaned at the sensation. Smiling, Gabriel turned his attention back to what he was doing, more focused than ever, as he had to be careful here as he worked the rope around Jack’s groin and thighs. It was a delicate balance, applying the right about of pressure to pleasure his partner, without pressing to close to dangerous areas, eyes flicking up to check on Jack’s expression from time to time, searching for any sign of discomfort, before rechecking his work._

_“Does everything feel okay, still?” He asked, lifting his voice and injecting it with just enough command to bring Jack to the surface long enough for him to answer._

_“Y-yes…” There was a hint of hesitation this time, and he could see Jack shifting just a little, testing the ropes. There was no pain or discomfort that he could see, but some of the dreaminess was drifting away, and he rose to his feet, moving until he was eye to eye with Jack._

_“Look at me,” he ordered, when Jack’s gaze dropped for a moment, the command bringing back up to meet his at once, and there, invisible to anyone who didn’t know how to see it was fear. “You’re safe,” he murmured, voice softening as he stepped forward, dropping the coils as he wrapped his arms around Jack, and pressed a kiss between the knots on his shoulder. “Nothing is going to happen to you, it’s just you and me, and you trust me, don’t you?” A tiny nod probably was all that Jack could manage at the moment, and Gabriel smiled at him. He knew that this was a test of trust, that being bound and unable to move, even if you knew you could technically break free had to go against every instinct Jack had. “You’re safe, and if we need to stop, that is okay too.”That was a rule they’d put in place right at the very beginning, especially after Gabriel had realised how much Jack wanted and needed pain, was sometimes a little too much for him._

_“I’m okay,” Jack had found his voice, a little raspy. “It’s just…it feels good and…”_

_“Your mind isn’t sure it should?” Gabriel asked, and Jack nodded, looking relieved that he understood without Jack struggling to find the words. “You always did think too much,” he murmured, gently teasing, kissing the pout that greeted his words. “Let me take care of you, okay?” Another nod, more confident this time, Jack’s trust him outweighing even his trust in himself. “But, if you do need me to stop…” He hesitated for a moment. They had safewords, but Jack was drifting, and he might not remember the words, and with what Gabriel had planned for later, he might not be able to say them anyway. “If you need me to stop completely, I want you to make three sharp noises – any noise at all.” He demonstrated with three sharp grunts, waiting for Jack to mimic him and rewarding him with a kiss. “Or if you just want me to slow down a little, then two drawn-out noises.” Again he made the noise and got Jack to imitate him._

_Satisfied, he kissed Jack again, slow and lingering this time, licking into his mouth and letting his hands wander, feeling the press of rope against the skin, and Jack trembling at the sensation. “Better?” He asked, when he pulled back, seeing the fear had faded and that Jack’s expression had taken on a dreamy countenance again as he nodded quietly. “Can I continue?”_

_“Please…”_

_Gabriel smiled, a little wolfishly this time and kissed him again, nipping lightly this time before retrieving the rope. He wove it around Jack, over, under, knotting it carefully, wrapping Jack up slowly. Tightly. Wanting to give him as much as he could take, and then some, but never too much._

Gabriel finished the last knot, and pulled back, looking Jack up and down. Admiring him. _Beautiful,_ he thought, almost wanting to laugh at himself. So much had happened and changed, yet as soon as he saw Jack like this, and had him in his hands, trusting and pliant, it was as though nothing had changed. _Mine,_ followed on that thought, a possessiveness that had bled over into their violence once he had realised who the Solider was. Whether it was pain-pleasure, or just pain, Jack was as his now as he had been back then. He was the only one who could touch him like this, tease him – the nanites pressed harder, the vibrations making them both groan, hurt him and maybe one day finish him.

But not today.

Not when Jack was standing over him, a parcel wrapped up for the taking. Not as relaxed as he had been back then, unable to let himself fall as far – yet as least – but pliant and patient, mouth open, chest heaving and straining against the ropes as the nanites teased him. Gabriel was everything at once, admiring him at a distance, wrapped around him with the nanites feeling each breath, each tremble, each moan. Consuming him without even really touching him.

It was overwhelming.

It wasn’t enough.

Gathering himself, feeling loose-limbed and aroused, he rose to his feet and moved closer. Now he touched, hands wandering across Jack’s body. Tracing the ropes. Fingers trailing over where they were pressed into the skin, where a pink that came not from the flush was spreading, a pool of colour next to the black. “Comfortable?” He asked, voice a low rasp, a far cry from the gentle enquiries back then, and yet he was relieved when Jack rolled his shoulders as best he could, testing, focusing for a moment before nodding. Either lacking the words, or not wanting to speak.

It was enough, and Gabriel reached for him again. Beginning to check the ropes, tugging on some areas, attuned to Jack in a way that he hadn't been for a long time, listening for an intake of breath or anything to indicate pain. But, Jack seemed content, watching as he smoothed down the ropes, moving to just where he wanted them, repositioning any knots that seemed likely to press on sensitive or painful spots. As patient and gentle as he had been all those years before. “I wish you could see yourself,” he could resist murmuring.

_“Do you want to see?” Gabriel asked when he was finished, and it took a moment for Jack to blink and come back to him enough to nod, eager and flustered._

_Gently, he lifted Jack, mindful of the ropes before pulling him across to the mirrored wardrobe – one of the reasons he had booked this particular hotel, although he was reasonably sure this was not what they’d had in mind when they’d gone for this design. He smiled at that thought, pressing a kiss to Jack’s shoulder as he settled him on the floor, steadying him when Jack swayed a little. Pressing a trail of kisses across his shoulders as he pressed up until he was flush against Jack’s back. Head resting on his shoulder, admiring his reflection, and enjoying the sight of blue eyes widening, fresh colour rushing to Jack’s cheeks as he saw himself. “Look at yourself, all wrapped up for me,” he purred into Jack’s ear, accompanying it with a light nip, Jack jolting and tensing, the blue rope rippling as his muscles did._

_Beautiful._

_Powerful._

_His._

_“It’s…beautiful,” Jack whispered eventually, unable to take his gaze away from his reflection. Gabriel smiled, softer then, kissing the side of his neck before shaking his head._

_“No, you’re beautiful.”_

_They remained like that for a few minutes, Jack basking and beginning to drift again, still flustered and flushed by Gabriel’s easy words, but leaning into him. Soaking it all up, as the tension melted away. As everything that made him the Strike Commander rather than just Jack slipped away, not completely erased, but forgettable at least for the moment. Gabriel could have remained like that forever, enjoying the peace, the press of Jack against him, and the sight of him trussed up just for him, trusting, pliant, handing himself over to Gabriel in a way no one else would ever get to see. Mine. Still, he had promised Jack more. Wanted to give him more. So, slowly he pulled himself away, blue eyes rising slowly to meet his in the mirror._

_“Ready for more?” He asked, and there was a pause as though Jack had forgotten and was caught off guard, but then he was smiling and nodding, shivering at the prospect._

_More._


End file.
